Aurora survivor voice log
by Some Welsh Guy
Summary: Voice log of the sole survivor of the Aurora crash
1. Chapter 1

Voice log number 23. Status update: I've finally made it into the wreckage of the Aurora. Took a while to make the right tools to get through all the debris, but I did it. Found plenty of supplies in there; enough nutrient blocks to last a few months and a lot of filtered water, so I probably won't die of hunger or thirst. Also managed to scan a few things, small items to make this base more homely, but also a few proper tools to help me survive and explore the planet. Admittedly, I'm really excited to finally get my own Prawn Suit, even if it's only for this planet.

Unfortunately, the Seamoth suffered quite a bit of damage from one of those Leviathan Class eel predators. Side note, I've taken to calling them Reapers. It'll take a few days to fully repair it, but with the supplies from that expedition, I got time. One thing I've noticed is that the Reapers seem to have a hard time hunting me when I'm not moving. At first, I thought they relied on movement to see, but then I noticed something: they always seem to home in on me after they roar. They appear to hunt via some form of echolocation, like Earth's dolphins when they were around. In fact, that may explain why so many of them are near the Aurora now; when it crashed, the explosion likely lured them in from miles away. This has given me an interesting idea. I'm thinking that if I can find the right materials, I could jury-rig a few explosives, set them off away from wherever I intend to go and lure the Reapers to them. If I'm lucky, they'll be territorial and kill each other.

Long term plans aside, I've got two means of finally getting off this puddle. As I made my way through the Aurora, I found myself in the Captain's room, unfortunately with no sign of him anywhere. However, I did find a transmission from Alterra with blueprints for a Neptune rocket. Should be enough to get me home. If I'm lucky though, I won't need it. Got a transmission from a ship called Sunbeam that's nearby. Said they're coming to pick me up. If, for whatever reason, they can't get me, the rocket's a backup.

Health update: I've noticed that I've been coughing more than usual, and I've been weirdly itchy. At first, I thought I just had the flu. But, then these green lesions started appearing. At first, just on my hands, but now there's a few on my torso as well. Scans can't identify it, so I have no idea what the Hell this is. If Sunbeam can pick me up, I'm putting myself straight into quarantine. Last thing I need is to be known as the guy who killed a dozen people with a cough. Possibly related to this alien infection; when I got to the Aurora crash site, my head started to feel… how do I describe this? You know when someone ends radio communication and you get that static from trying to connect to nothing? If felt like I had a biological version of that in the center of my skull. I thought it may have just been a weird feeling so I ignored it, but a few minutes later I began hallucinating. Both visually and audibly. I saw this weird shape, maybe some kind of creature? And I heard a woman's voice. Something about 'I am what you seek'? I don't know. Either I'm going mad from isolation, this infection causes hallucinations or there's some kind of telepathic creature hiding on the planet. I'm inclined to believe the first two options.

Actually, that reminds me, I can't help but be reminded of this movie I saw. Friend of mine back in Alterra was obsessed with movies from centuries back, he showed me this one called Castaway. This guy got stranded on an island and went mad from isolation. Now, in that, he started talking to a ball he named Wilson to keep some shred of sanity. I'd rather not converse with sporting equipment, but I'm pretty sure my mental health would fare better if I had something to talk to. You know, I explored the old Degassi crew's bases a few days ago and found this egg. Seemed like it would be close to hatching. I have the scanned plans for an aquarium. Might do me some good to build a fish tank and get a pet. Although, I'm not sure if I'll have time for that. Sunbeam said they'll be here sometime in the next few days, so the egg likely won't have time to hatch.

Personal notes: I really can't wait to get off this planet. Sunbeam honestly can't come fast enough. They're having me meet them at some island a few miles away. Assuming I can get the Seamoth repaired in time and no Reapers are around, I shouldn't have any trouble reaching the rendezvous point. Though admittedly, I'm worried about them. The Aurora didn't crash because of human error, that's for damn certain, everything was going great in the gravity slingshot. Nothing malfunctioned, I was checking everything when it started to drop. No, something hit us. Hopefully it was just a stray asteroid and Sunbeam will be fine, but if this planet has some huge debris field that's going to tear the ship apart the second it comes close… I'm worrying too much. If that debris field is there, Sunbeam will know and tell me, then I just have to build the Neptune rocket. I suppose another cause of the Aurora crash could be a shot from a weapon, given not a single sensor detected an asteroid before the impact, but there aren't any ships in the area and Alterra hasn't found evidence of any lifeforms more intelligent than a dog for light years around, so I think I'm just letting those old movies get to me.

Anyway, I have to take stock of supplies and start packing for things to take to the Sunbeam rendezvous. Voice log number 23 ended.


	2. Chapter 2

Voice log 24. Status update: Still on the planet. Made my way to the Sunbeam rendezvous point and saw this massive structure. Dark metal, weird designs all over it. The idea that we got shot down rather than being in an accident seemed more likely. By the time I was ready to poke around inside, Sunbeam called in, said they were readying for touchdown. This tower made a sound and turned, tilted and started to glow… I'm just glad that when it shot them, the communication went dead. I really didn't want to hear them in my dreams for the next few weeks.

Poked around in the laser tower after it powered down and the shock wore off. Scans managed to translate bits of a broadcast, seems it's a quarantine enforcement platform. Probably this weird infection I have. I have noticed a few of the local fauna have similar lesions. Found this platform at the end of a few hallways. Probably the way to turn the gun on and off. If I had to guess, I'd say it won't let me shut it down while I'm infected, so there's no turning it off.

Took me a few days to get back to base, letting me stew in my despair for a bit. Side note: Seamoths are great for travel, but they don't make comfortable beds. Spent a few hours just sat in my base, letting my mind run wild. Eventually decided to make another log entry. Figured saying it aloud might help somehow. It doesn't.

…

I'm not dying down here. I made my way, from some nobody on the edge of Alterra space, to a systems maintenance chief on the Aurora, one of the highest grade ships in Aterra's possession. I have the tools, I have the plans for a rocket. Hell, I don't even need the Neptune, I'll build a damn catapult and throw myself back home if I have to. Course, I won't make it far with that alien gun tower. But, if these aliens set up a planet wide quarantine, they were probably looking at making a cure too. A weapon like that thing needs a lot of power, I don't see any mile wide solar panels around, so it's probably using thermal energy. If I can find the thermal power plant, I can scan its logs to find out how it's distributing its energy, hopefully with labels like 'Disease cure facility with codes to the big gun' to make my life easier. There's like a dozen caverns on the seabed near the base, one of them has to lead deep enough to use heat for power.

Of course, the Seamoth won't be able to dive deep enough. Scanning wreckage I've come across has pieced together the plans for a Cyclops sub, so I'll have a ride down. I'll have to make a Prawn suit for continuing when the cavern tightens a bit. If I can make a few upgrades to the base designs I should be set for finding what I need.

Health update: Still sick with martian flu. Coughing has gone down, but I'm still itchy and I've got a few more lesions. I haven't hallucinated since the Aurora, so that's good. In terms of mental health, I'm obviously a little wrecked. Seeing my best chance at getting home blown to smithereens will do that. Luckily, it seems I'll have plenty of things to keep me occupied so I can't wallow in pity. I've also built that fish tank and set the egg from the Degassi base inside. I could see the little guy moving about inside, so he's probably gonna hatch soon. Having a pet will help keep me entertained and sane, for a while at least. Observations about said egg: The animal inside seems to have a stout body with tentacles at the base. From what I can see, it seems to have a grey colour to it and appears quite rare. Unless its mature stage is extremely different to its infant stage, I haven't seen any other members of its species. Does finding this thing mean I get to name it? Like, officially name it? Actually, do I get to name everything down here? I may need to start coming up with proper names for the locals then. Scientists back home probably won't like when I say 'Oh, that's a Peeper' or 'Those things are called Stalkers.'

Personal notes: Sunbeam's destruction was a massive blow to my sanity, but I'm a stubborn guy when I want to be. I don't care if there's a giant alien death ray or not, I'm getting home or dying trying. I'll have to think long term though. Who knows how far I'll have to swim to find a cure, if there even is one. When I head out for supplies and going into the caverns, I'll have to start scouting for real estate. Probably set up a few smaller, waypoint style set ups between the main bases, just to make the journeys safer. I don't know if that's practical, I'll have to wait and see what resources I can scrounge from around the place, but it would be nice to have a place to rest after a long day of swimming. Hopefully when the egg hatches the little guy can either keep pace with me or fend for himself while I'm gone.

On the topic of the egg, it's twitching a lot in the tank. I'm keeping an eye out to see if the fish inside starts breaking out. You know, I've never actually had a pet before. My first pet's an undiscovered alien. Wonder how many people can say that? I'm gonna need a name for the little guy, aren't I? I'll think of something. Okay, the egg's starting to bounce a bit, so I think I'm going to end it here.

Voice log 24, ended.


	3. Chapter 3

Voice log number 25.

Status update: I think I've found my way to the most likely place for the alien's thermal power plant. I've scouted a few of the caves along the sea bed, most went nowhere except some valuable resources and alien fish. Side note: I don't know why some of these fish have evolved to literally explode, especially since they don't appear able to stop the process once it starts, they'll need some more research. Anyway, one of the crevasses I went into seemed to go deeper than the others. Eventually the rocks started to take on a different color and many of the flora and fauna seemed to have developed bioluminescence. Odds are I'm on the right track. Thankfully the caverns were big enough to accommodate a Cyclops, though it's going to take some careful piloting.

I've got the vehicle construction bay working on a Cyclops sub right now, so I'll have a mobile base while I'm down there. I'll have to set the reflectors to take on a darker colour, probably a dark blue, so as to not draw too much attention down there. As if a giant metal tube showing up out of nowhere isn't going to ruffle some feathers on its own. Or scales. Or whatever the locals are gonna have. Speaking of locals, the egg I found hatched.

Alien egg update: Little guy's a cute one. Seems to communicate with chirps and whistles and is highly sociable with some degree of intelligence behind the over sized eyes. He's been very easy to train, I now receive an alien high five every time I come back to base. He didn't look happy in the tank, so I let him out into the ocean and now he's stuck around to hang out. He appears to be herbivorous and very playful. I don't know how, but somehow he always seems to know how I'm feeling. He's also quite expressive in a manner similar to human faces, so he may just be good at reading me, even with the diving mask, even at such a young age. Well, young to me. Who knows what his life expectancy is. I'll have to study the little guy a bit more. Oh, also, he needs a name now that he's actually swimming around. I was thinking about Levi. I've remodeled one of the multipurpose rooms into a glass observatory to keep an eye on Levi as he's swimming around. He seems fond of trying to grab my attention and mess around while I'm working, trying to get me to play or give him treats. Side note: Levi appears quite fond of chocolate flavoured nutrient block flakes. Levi seems capable of sustaining himself when I'm gone, and could likely do so for the rest of his life, but, like me, he seems to require companionship to remain healthy. I'll have to keep an eye out for any other eggs to give him a friend.

Health update: The alien infection I have doesn't appear to have worsened any, but it isn't improving either. I was worried about having Levi so close with this infection seeming quite contagious, but I'd noticed eggs around the place displaying the same lesions, and Levi's remained clean the whole time, so he's either immune or super resistant. I may need to take a sample of his blood to see if I can find what makes him immune. Mental health has improved after Levi hatched. The fish has given me plenty to keep me occupied and he's pretty good company. Even if he does insist on smudging the observatory windows with kelp every now and then. I've also started to decorate the base a bit, figured it would be better for me to look at neat stuff on shelves rather than pristine white metal walls. Additionally, I've harvested some of the plant life from the floating island a few miles away, thought it would be good to have a steady source of food rather than relying on fish and a limited supply of nutrient blocks. Especially when I give a decent portion of those blocks to Levi. Scans indicated that two of the plants were safe for human consumption, so I've taken seeds and set up some grow beds. If all goes well, I should avoid starvation for a few extra days.

Personal notes: Things are looking up. I've got a way down that can support the sub and I've found an alien who isn't either trying to kill me or dumb as a sack of sand. I get worried each time I leave Levi for a day or two, he just seems so helpless. Although, he's really quick and agile in the water, and those tentacles look like they could support his weight on land for a short time if push came to shove. Coupled with his intelligence and the lack of predators in the area and I admittedly don't have anything to worry about, but there's just something about a cute animal that makes me think it's doomed without support. Natural I suppose.

In my trips around the place, I've noticed something; there appears to be a large drop off in a circular radius around my current location. Seems likely that the region was struck by an absolutely colossal meteorite at some point. Can't help but wonder whether that means all the fish around here are unique products of an isolated environment. No doubt when I get off the planet, Alterra's gonna move in. Hopefully the rest of the plane is a little friendlier than the fish I've met. Excluding Levi and the ones I eat, they all seem to want me dead.

Voice log 25 ended.


	4. Chapter 4

Voice log number 27

Status update: I've taken the Cyclops down a ravine large enough to accommodate it. I've never handled a Cyclops sub before, but the controls were easy enough to figure out. Thankfully, I made it down that ravine with only a few bumps to the hull. The local fish seem a lot less agitated by the sub's presence than I thought they'd be. I've noticed a substantial increase in the amount of alien structures down here. There are these two enormous skeletal structures, scans say they're a few million years old. Both of them have lights shining on them, so the aliens were probably studying them. Don't know what for though, I haven't seen anything that would suggest they care about the evolutionary history of the planet. I may be regretting my choice to spend the night down here, some of the fish are pretty damned creepy. Regardless, it saves me coming back down tomorrow. The caverns seem to narrow, so I'll leave the Cyclops here and take the Prawn suit out to continue. Hopefully it isn't too much further to the next alien base. Sleeping in the Seamoth was bad enough, I don't need to find out how the Prawn compares.

Health update: No change in the alien infection's effects on my body and my mental health is as stable as it can be, for now.

Levi update: I already miss the little guy. He seemed sad when I started to drop, but I get the feeling he's back to playing by now. I did briefly consider installing a tank in the Cyclops so he could tag along, but there's a few issues there. First, there isn't really anywhere in the Cyclops to put a tank big enough to accommodate him. Second, he didn't seem to like the tank back at base, so he probably wouldn't like a smaller one. Side note: Since letting Levi out into the waters around the base, I've filled the tank with various species of fish from around the crater. Adding in seeds for local plant life has made the tank self sufficient. Levi's grown to about the size of a small dog, and his love of chocolate nutrient blocks hasn't ceased. I hid a few flakes around the base before I left. Something to keep him occupied. Speaking of occupying Levi, I never thought I'd be able to entertain an alien with close up magic, but doing the age old 'Disappearing card' trick with a treat always seems to amaze him. I'll have to go through other party tricks and see what sticks.

Fauna observations: Everything down here possesses some form of bioluminescence, both flora and fauna. Most of the locals seem to be ray fish, similar body structure to the ray's up top, but translucent. In fact, everything down here is see through. Makes them all look like ghosts. There are two leviathan class predators that I've encountered down here. First off is a large sea serpent, not unlike the Reapers. No facial claws, thankfully, but it also doesn't seem to use echolocation. This animal seems fairly rare down here based on the few that I've seen, hopefully there aren't more deeper down. The other Leviathan is this big octopus-crab looking thing. They look like they're all head with a bunch of legs sticking out the bottom. Creepy looking things. They appear to send out an electromagnetic pulse, I'm not sure if this is a self defence mechanism or a hunting one. Either way, they can render all my electronics useless for a few seconds. They've even shut down the Cyclops once or twice. Thankfully, they're either deaf, or completely ignore sound, they home in on lights when hungry, so shutting down the Cyclops' lights makes dodging them easy.

Personal notes: I'm not afraid to admit that this part of the planet scares me a bit. Those electrical octopus-crabs are creepy as all Hell, and the weird clicking they make doesn't help me any. Honestly, they popped up in a nightmare I had last night. I don't remember most of it, I think it had something to do with being chased by a Reaper into a small cavern where it couldn't follow. I thought I was safe, but then I heard this weird clicking sound and turned around to see these giant, glowing eyes staring at me from the darkness. It sent out an electromagnetic pulse and fried my Seaglide before coming towards me. Just as it was about to impale me with one of its legs, the whole scene melted away. No clicking, so Reaper roaring, nothing. Then I heard a voice, the same one from the Aurora hallucination. I couldn't make it out this time, but the darkness slowly brightened until I was just floating in the ocean. I could've sworn I saw some huge shape in the distance, and maybe some blue or green lights? I don't know though, it's mostly a blur. I've read that most dreams have meanings, but I'm not sure what meaning this has. I'm scared of being eaten? I didn't need a dream to tell me that.

The increase in alien structures has me hopeful that I'm on the right track. The way the rocks look around the structures makes me think that they've been around for years, and if those lights have been shining on those fossils all that time, they need to be getting power from somewhere. If I'm lucky I won't have to go too far to find whatever power plant is supplying the various alien things with power. Honestly, I don't care how far I have to go to find it, I'm either shutting it down, or cutting the quarantine platform off from the grid. Whatever it takes to get home.

Voice log 27, ended.


	5. Chapter 5

Voice log number 28.

Status update: I've continued to make my way through the subterranean caverns. So far, I've found some kind of river made of a dense, highly toxic gas that flows through the area, and some alien ruins. I noticed these creepy animals around each of the alien structures. Purple, semi-humanoid in outline, tentacles and translucent undersides. They possess some form of teleportation ability. At first, I didn't know what seemed to be attracting them, one of the alien structures sorted that mystery out though. Side note: I've mentioned the possibility of my hallucination at the Aurora being caused by a telepathic creature, and now that I've confirmed the existence of teleporting animals, I'm starting to find that possibility more likely.

Alien structure 1: I decided to look inside this small cave in the cavern wall. It lead inward a bit and there was this big alien arch. I have no idea what it could've been used for. My first guess would be that it would project images and could be used like a huge screen, but then, why would it be out of the way of all the other alien stuff? I'll have to return at some point and do more scans.

Alien structure 2: Rather than a simple opening, it was a straight up gate this time. There was this green force field that kept me out. Luckily, I'd noticed these weird, coloured tablets in most of the alien buildings I've explored. Figured I'd bring them with me on this trip. Intuition proved right as, when In approached, this platform opened up. Looked about the right size for a tablet, so I held one up and it sucked it in, dropping the force field. Side note: I'll have to look into reverse engineering this force field technology, would help keep the rocket safe when I leave the planet. This time, the outpost had a more clear purpose; it seemed to be a research outpost or laboratory, maybe both. There are glass containers with bones that look like they came from the giant fossils around the caverns, as well as some of the more basic floral life being kept alive in containers.

There was this pedestal near the back that had this green projection. Scans were able to translate the data. Turns out the bones were from ancestors to the modern Leviathans of the planet. I still don't know why the aliens would care about any of this. Additionally, there were these green cuboid crystals in there. Scans said they're safe, so I've taken them with me to see if I can find a use.

Alien structure 3: This is the interesting one. Right off the bat, something was off. This was a free standing building, not built into caves like the other ones down here. It was held up with these weird metal limbs. I say 'held up', the thing was leaning to one side and had a huge chunk taken out of it. Side note: I noticed an unidentified Leviathan class skeleton near the ruin with substantial damage to the skull, possibly responsible for the damages to the structure.

Inside the building was a bunch of preserved remains of various native animals, some of which I didn't recognize, as well as what looked like eggs. Scanning one of these eggs revealed that the DNA of the embryo was a match for the Leviathan bones outside, I'm guessing the mother came to get her egg back. In a separate room, there was one of those creepy teleporting things, but unfinished. The main body, head and most limbs were attached in the middle of the room, but the organs and a few tentacles were held in machine claws. Based on the room and some scans, it seems these things are actually cyborgs. Now, prosthetics is advanced in Alterra space, but not 'we made a half robot that can bend space' advanced. In fact, how the Hell did these aliens figure out teleportation? Further research required. Depending on the tech required, it may be another way off the planet.

While all this was and is interesting, I'm more excited by finally finding what I came down here for: data on the location of other alien bases, namely, a power plant! It seems to be at a depth of 1.2km, in a volcanic area, likely further down the caverns.

Health update: The infection isn't improving. However, the broken alien structure had data logs about cure efforts. Seems they were injecting local fish with the bacterium, which they called the Kharaa, to see the effect. According to the log, one Leviathan showed immunity. The animal, which they had named the Sea Emperor was moved to a separate site, 1.4km down, likely near the power plant to ensure a constant supply of power. It's probably dead now, but if I can find this Emperor, maybe I can cure myself. Crossing my fingers they came close enough for me to finish the cure.

Personal notes: I have a little theory as to how the Kharaa spread around this planet. At first, I thought it was a local disease that was becoming a plague, but you'd think local fauna would at least be resistant to it. No, it's more than likely not native to the planet. I know that the aliens were injecting local animals with it, so they were likely infected themselves and were looking for a cure. When the Leviathan tore the facility open to get her egg back, she probably introduced the infection into the waters by accident.

I said when I went down here that I didn't want to sleep in the Prawn, but I'm doing exactly that. Cyclops couldn't fit further down the caverns, so I took the Prawn and continued for about an hour. Clock says it's about eleven, so I'm gonna sleep in here. When I'm done with the log, I'll turn off everything except the oxygen. I've got like five spare power cells, so I should be fine, so long as the water helps keep me insulated so I don't freeze to death. I just hope it's a little better than the Seamoth was.

Voice log number 28, ended.


	6. Chapter 6

Voice log number… uh…29? Yeah,. 29.

My brain is just done after recent events. I'll still do this log but, damn.

Status update: I made my way down into the volcanic region of the caverns. Most of the animals looked like close relatives of others I'd seen, except for the big ones. That skeleton I found near the wrecked alien base? The one I couldn't identify? Yeah, I've identified it. These massive things, Leviathan class genuinely feels like an understatement, they're similar to earth's frogfish, in that their front fins are arm like. Except they're enormous, have tentacles coming out of their lower body, and seem to eat volcanic rock. Also, they spit fire. Okay, technically, it seems that they regurgitate some of the volcanic rock they eat, held together with their saliva and spit this red hot blob of rock at an enemy, but they're still sea dragons. There seems to be two of them down here.

Prawn suit took some hits from their assaults, but I was able to stay out of sight more often than not, so I made my way into this huge alien base at the far end of the cavern. For some reason, the dragons don't seem to want to approach. Having these superpredators hesitant to approach didn't exactly help my confidence in going deeper into these ruins.

Main chamber of the alien base is full of all sorts of alien things. Weapons, energy source, some that look purely decorative. At this point, my head starts to feel a little weird, same feeling from way back in the Aurora. So, I keep looking around and eventually come to a big pool of water. I jump in and hear this weird sound. Like a chirping or clicking. And I see these massive limbs come up and rest on the platform I'm standing on, or the Prawn was standing on I guess. And then this titanic alien face comes up to look at me. Same shape and glowing eyes as the Aurora hallucination. When she spoke in my mind, it really confirmed the fact that I'd somehow been telepathically communicating with a giant alien organism the whole time I've been here.

Gotta be honest, the Sea Emperor is beautiful. She's got the same kind of limbed body with tentacles that sea dragons do, but she's so much more graceful and majestic in how she moves. Also, despite her face being about as alien as I'd imagine from an alien kraken, there's something gentle and welcoming about it. Weird as it is to say, she looks kinda motherly.

I was terrified of the Sea Emperor at first, I mean, it's bigger than those dragons. But, almost immediately I realized just how docile she was. She just swam around her pool while I took it all in. I saw this platform at one end of the enclosure, so I went over to check it out. There were five, what looked like eggs, sat on these pedestals. While I was looking, the Emperor decided to sit down nearby to get a good view. I heard her voice in my head again. She said that the aliens that put her in the enclosure kept trying to take something from her, some secret, but that she'd give it to me freely. Side note: Instead of just calling them 'The aliens', I'm going to start calling the aliens that were here before me Precursors.

I had this formula suddenly pop into my head. This chemical compound made of plantlife that I'd seen around the crater. The Emperor said that this would be needed for her young to finally hatch. For a second, I wondered why the Precursors were apparently trying to take this knowledge from the Emperor. Side note: As I now know the Sea Emperor to be female, I'm gonna call her Empress from now on. Anyway, I realized that Empress was the only specimen the Precursor's experimented on that showed any immunity to the Kharaa, so odds are that hatching Empress' eggs is key to the cure. Anyway, Empress drifted over to this sand mound and blew away the sand. There was another one of the Precursor arches that I'd seen before, buried for who know how long. Empress said that it was a gate. All the alien tech seemed to have this green glow about it, so I took one of the cubic crystals out of the Prawn and held it up to the arch. Sure enough, it got sucked in and the arch lit up. I saw this distorted image of a cave. I swam through and found myself in this cavern. Long story short, turns out the arches are teleportation gates and all the plants I needed to hatch Empress' eggs could be reached with a gate in the Sea Emperor containment facility. Credit where it's due, the Precursors had some insane tech.

Spent about a day going through portals, trying to find the right plants before I made my way back to base to synthesize this hatching enzyme. When I got back, Empress seemed excited, almost childlike in how she bobbed about. I put the enzyme into this receptacle at the egg platform and waited. Eventually, the eggs started to twitch, and then crack. These baby Sea Emperors came swimming out. About as big as me, but still kind of adorable. Side note: Cute as the baby Emperors are, Levi beats them out in cuteness. Side side note: I realize now that I've mentioned Levi, his body structure is actually quite comparable to the sea dragons and Emperors, so he may actually grow to a similar size one day. More importantly, the baby's all swam up to greet their mother before swimming through the gate. I noticed as they went that they were regurgitating this gold slime. For some reason, I decided to take my gloves off and touch it. Probably Empress using some subtle telepathy or something. When I did, I got this warm feeling in my body, and the Kharaa lesions almost all went away almost immediately. Unfortunately, the second her young were out the gate, Empress collapsed onto the floor of her enclosure. Based on her breathing and weak movements, I don't think she's going to get back up.

I'm recording this next to the entrance to Empress' pool, just in case she contacts me again. Hopefully she can at least last until morning.

Voice log number 29, ended.


	7. Chapter 7

Voice log number 35.

Status update: I've finally built the Neptune rocket. Days of searching every part of this ocean, and now I'm sat in the cockpit. It's a weird feeling, to know that I'll finally be heading home. I've got enough nutrient blocks, cured fish and purified water to last me at least a year. The navigation system's locked onto the nearest Alterra station. The protective energy field is stable, should protect me from any space debris.

I entered the Precursor quarantine enforcement platform the other day. Finally tried messing with that pedestal in the heart of the building. When I pressed this button, an energy field got enabled and locked my arm into place. Then this metal tendril slithered out and extended a spike from the tip. Thing jabbed me in the arm before retracting, probably testing to see if I was clean of the Kharaa. The building hummed for a second before finally shutting down. Gotta admit, that is definitely up there as one of the most satisfying moments in this little adventure for me.

I've spent the last two days just scanning and observing every species of animal in these waters while the drones constructed the rocket. I have to admit, I never really stopped to appreciate this place. I mean, I've never heard of any aquatic lifeforms that can literally hypnotize its prey by reflecting light to interfere with the optic nerve and cause hallucinations, or of an animal that spits molten rock, or a giant, telepathic kraken. Strange as it is to say, I'm actually going to miss this place.

I've gone down to visit Empress a few times over the past few days. Her condition has only worsened. Her breathing's gotten more laboured and she can barely move now. I went down earlier today to say a final goodbye and let her know how the hatchlings are doing. If she heard me, she didn't give any indication.

Sea Emperor hatchling update: The Emperors mature extremely fast. When they hatched, they were about as big as me, now a few days have passed and they already dwarf me. Nowhere near the size of their mother, but still well on their way to Leviathan class. They don't seem to have any natural predators as nothing appears to want to harm them, even in the early stages of their lives. I suspect they may be using their telepathy to keep predators at bay. They also regurgitate that Kharaa killing enzyme fairly frequently.

Health update: All symptoms of the Kharaa infection have disappeared. The Local fauna has also shown reduced signs of being infected since the Sea Emperors were released. I've seen many of the smaller fish species come over and feed from the enzyme. Presumably, the cure will spread by having these immunized fish get eaten by predators, thus getting the enzyme to the whole population of the planet.

Levi update: The little guy seemed sad when I swam over to tell him I was going to go. Honestly, his little face just killed me. I spent the better part of a day working on a tank that could support Levi for the whole journey while being small enough to fit into the Neptune's current shape, not to mention not adding enough weight to cause an issue in the flight and ensuring its placement wouldn't make the water's insulation heighten the risk of overheating. I think I figured it out though and now he's happily swimming about the ship, getting a feel for the temporary home.

Personal notes: I honestly struggle to believe all this. Not just finally getting ready to launch, the whole time on this planet has been unreal. I mean, even Craig McGill can't say that he'd befriended a semi-sentient alien lifeform, fought off Leviathan class predators with a Prawn suit's drill, met a telepathic, ancient, fully sentient Leviathan and cured a planet wide plague, all while building bases from scrap and escaping in a homemade rocket. Maybe I'll write a book on the whole experience. We'll see when I get back, I guess. If I do, you can be damned sure I'm putting everyone that was on the Aurora in. I'm not letting this, admittedly pretty awesome, experience of mine get them forgotten.

I decided to leave a little time capsule behind when I launch. I've got it set near my seat so I can be sure it goes down right. I made my way into the Aurora wreckage one last time and downloaded an image. I remember a few days before the crash, the Captain had us all, literally everyone on the ship, gather in the canteen and get a photo taken to commemorate his final flight as captain. Figured that picture would be a nice thing to leave behind, in addition to a few little nick nacks I picked up from everyone's rooms as I was looking for supplies.

I feel like there's going to be a weird adjustment period when I get back. I won't have to make sure I have my oxygen mas and tank every time I plan to go for a walk, I won't have to worry about the next Leviathan predator coming for me, I won't have to go from walking to swimming every time I leave my house. It's going to be a while before I shake some of these habits, I think.

I know that, when I get back, Alterra's going to move in and start stripping this planet down for resources, but hopefully they'll keep up their streak of being careful with how they go about it, and to study as much as they harvest. I'd hate to have saved this world only to then doom it when Alterra rolls up.

No use in stalling any further. Levi's hunkered down at the base of his tank, and all I have to do to initiate launch is push one more button. For the last time, voice log 35, ended. Time to go home.


End file.
